Welcome Back Message:
Welcome Back Keefe Tech! We are so happy to be able to start the year in-person with you and excited to meet a new group of students. Students benefit so much from in-person learning, and safely returning to in-person instruction is a top priority. As we get into the swing of things, we wanted to reach out with some important health and safety reminders from the School Nurses’ office to best help us all have a healthy and successful school year together. Carefully continuing to follow the recommended mitigation strategies is our best course of action to protect the health and safety of our school community. Multiple and layered safety strategies best help us to protect our students and staff and keep us together in school. Our most valuable safety strategies continue to be:
● Consistent daily health checks to identify any potential covid-related symptoms/concerns and determine an individual’s eligibility to safely come into the building. Doing these health checks every day with your child is mandatory and your child cannot come into school if there are any concerns related to the daily health check questions. Please refer to the Daily Health Checks handout for further details.
- Staying home when sick and following up with a healthcare provider remains essential.
○ Communication with the Keefe Tech nurses for any illness-related absences or covid-related situations also remains extremely important.
● Masking: All individuals, regardless of vaccination status, will wear masks when indoors at all times, except while eating or drinking. Teachers will continue to build in mask breaks as needed throughout the school day for students.
○ Masks should be multi-layered and must cover your mouth and nose at all times. Masks can be cloth or disposable and should fit snugly at the sides of your face.
○ Gaiters and face shields are NOT an acceptable alternative to an earloop/tie face mask.
○ Students should always come to school with a backup mask in case theirs becomes dirty, wet, or no longer fits right. We will have additional backup disposable masks at school should a student or staff member need one.
● Social Distancing: We will aim for at least 3 feet of social distancing whenever possible.
● Hand Hygiene: We will continue to provide quick access to hand sanitizer throughout the building and in classrooms and opportunities for handwashing whenever necessary.
● Access to COVID testing for school-related covid situations to reduce exposure risks and prevent potential spread.
○ Binax-NOW rapid tests for individuals who develop symptoms during the school day
○ New addition of the “Test & Stay” protocol for anyone identified as a close contact while asymptomatic. (Please see our handout for further details)
○ Weekly Pooled Testing program for consenting students/staff
■ Please complete consent forms for participating in BinaxNOW rapid testing as well as Weekly Pooled Testing and return them to our office. Consent forms can be found on the Health Services web page.
○ Seek PCR testing with an outside provider when symptomatic - https://www.mass.gov/covid-19-testing and do not come into school until the nurses have reviewed the negative test result.
● Optimized air ventilation – our HVAC system continues to exceed the state recommendations for air exchange. Opportunities to go outside and open doors/windows for improved air flow continue to be encouraged
● We will continue to have enhanced cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitation protocols from our Facilities Team.
● Consistently follow return to school guidelines for any covid-related situations (i.e. symptoms, close contact scenarios, positive tests, etc.). Please follow our protocol handout and contact the nurses with any questions or concerns.
○ As a reminder, in addition to covid-related health issues, students cannot come into school with the following symptoms/conditions:
■ Nausea, Vomiting, and/or diarrhea (must be symptom-free for a full 24 hours before return)
■ A persistent, uncontrolled cough and/or severe nasal drainage/congestion
■ A blistery, weeping skin sores or rash, especially if accompanied by a fever. Students will need to be cleared of any contagious illness by their physician before returning to school.
■ If your child has been diagnosed with strep throat, pink eye, ringworm, or impetigo, etc., he/she must be on antibiotics 24 hours before returning to school and be fever free.
■ Chicken pox, Pertussis, Rubella, Mumps, Measles, Hepatitis A - Your medical provider and the school nurses can review the different criteria for return to school following these illnesses.
■ Your child feels unwell and cannot keep up with the school day.
● Vaccination remains the best public health strategy to help end the pandemic and protect yourself and others. Keefe Tech will be offering a covid vaccination clinic for all interested students and staff to receive the Pfizer vaccine. This clinic was planned in collaboration with the Framingham Board of Health. COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective, and free. These clinics will occur during the school day on Friday September 10th and Friday October 1st. Please provide us with the signed consent form as well as the completed and signed vaccine administration form in order to participate. Copies can be found on the KT Health services web page. For more information about covid vaccines, visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.html
Please take the time to further review our updated safety protocols that have been developed in accordance with the Board of Health as well as the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education standards. Please contact us in the nursing office any time with any questions.
If at any time your student has any covid-related symptoms/concerns or healthcare needs, please reach out to our nursing office so we can better help you. It remains so important that we all continue to work together and remain vigilant about following all the safety protocols. We hope you and your family have had an enjoyable summer break and we look forward to seeing you all soon!
Bridget Veale, RN, BSN, CPN bveale@jpkeefehs.org Mindy Wade, RN mwade@jpkeefehs.org
Telephone 508-416-2263 Fax 508-416-2120
